GFS BioProtectGFS BioProtect is one of the few hand sanitizers that has actually been tested and shown to kill a norovirus surrogate. It killed 99% of murine norovirus. You all know that I love my Zylast antiseptic but in the winter my hands are cracked and bleeding, I often simply don't use my hand sanitizer at all because it hurts too bad. I was excited about testing this non-stinging option. The BioProtect also smells really good. In this experiment, I compared BioProtect to Zylast, 3% hydrogen peroxide, and Purell Advanced on my countertop. I did the experiment like I always do. I made germ water with dirt from the back yard and extra bacteria from a previous days agar plate. I put 1mL of germ water onto each square. I rubbed the germ water around with my gloved hand and let it completely dry which took about 2 hours. I used a sterile swab to rub on the dirty control square. I rubbed each swab onto its respective agar plate. Then I added .5 mL of each product (Zylast, hydrogen peroxide, and Purell Advanced) to its respective square and rubbed it in with my clean gloved hand. I let it sit for 1 minute and then swabbed each square and rubbed the swabs onto agar plates. Since the BioProtect is a foam, I could not accurately measure it. Instead, I used 4 pumps of the BioProtect and rubbed that around the square. The plates were incubated overnight it my warm incubator. As you can see, the BioProtect did a great job killing bacteria on the countertop just like Zylast and 3% hydrogen peroxide. As usual, Purell Advanced does not do a very good job. How well does BioProtect work on actual kid's hands? For these experiments, I had my kids and some neighbor kids go out and play and get their hands dirty. All hands had a lot of actual dirt on them. Then they rubbed one dirty hand onto an agar plate. I put 4 pumps of BioProtect on the other hand, rubbed it in, and let it dry for 1 minute. Then the child rubbed their sanitized hand onto another agar plate. The plates were incubated overnight in my warm incubator. As you can see, the BioProtect did a great job killing bacteria even on these filthy hands. As you can see, BioProtect does a great job killing bacteria in my experiments. BioProtect is also one of the few hand sanitizers that has been shown to kill a norovirus surrogate. But it is the ONLY one that I have found that is effective against norovirus and does not contain alcohol. Yes, Zylast antiseptic has been my favorite for a few years now. However, this winter my hands have been cracked and bleeding, and I simply can't use my Zylast, and I will be carrying BioProtect with me. You can order GFS BioProtect (now called My-Shield) on Amazon BioProtect Extended Kill In a few of the experiments, it looks like the GFS BioProtect hand did have less bacteria on it than the control hand. However, in a few of the experiments, the hands looked about the same. I have never been able to show that Zylast or Qore24 continues to work, either. In fact, the BioProtect at least had a few experiments where it looked like it continued to do a little something. I am not saying that the hand sanitizers don't work like they claim. All I know for sure is that your hands aren't as germ-free an hour later as they were right after you put on the hand sanitizer and that goes for all of the extended kill hand sanitizers that I have tested. I would just reapply or wash hands before eating if you can. |